Anyone else been in kind of a daze lately?

[Sam Sagnella]

Has anyone else been spending the last few weeks or months in a meteorological daze? I have said the phrase "I can't believe this is really happening" more times in the last month than I ever have in the past. I mean, first off, we had like 5 named systems by the middle of July, which set off some bells and whistles in my head for SURE. Second, Hurricane Katrina -- the long-awaited-worst-case-scenario-that-we-hoped-wouldn't-happen-in-our-lifetime-but-it-did storm -- decimated a prominant southern city and brough a proud nation to its knees. The fact that this had been seen as a disaster in the making for DECADES, and it finally happened has rocked my weather world. Now, on September 21, we face Rita, the seventeenth named storm of 2005 --- did I mention that it was september 21? Our jaws dropped when Katrina hit 902mb, and now Rita is down to 898mb?!? What is going on?!?

On the other hand, this year has made me feel like a kid in a meteorological candy shop. I've learned more about tropical cyclone forecasting this year than I have in the past several combined. While I pray that the rest of the season behaves itself, its terrifyingly possible that it won't.

Just wondering if anyone else has been feeling like the weather half of them (or 9/10 in my case...) has been completely overwhelmed during this 2005 hurricane season.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I was thinking the same thing... The "kid in a candy store" metaphor fits my situation well. AFter a relatively weak severe weather season across most of the plains, the tropical season has certainly provided much excitement (good or bad). I NEVER thought I'd see a <910mb storm in the Gulf of Mexico (ok ok, I did think I'd see it SOME day, but...). Add in a mind-boggling <899mb storm in nearly the same spot only 3-4 weeks later... :shock:

 

[Andrew Khan]

IT's been pretty wild, and perhaps even wilder. I have been stunned at how much of my knowledge I was lacking in the Hurricane/Cyclone area. I mean Rita is the strongest storm in recorded history....

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Originally posted by Andrew Khan
I mean Rita is the strongest storm in recorded history....

No it's not. It's the 3rd lowest central pressure recorded with an Atlantic hurricane.

 

[Andrew Khan]

So much for trusting CNN, I guess....

 

[nickgrillo]

I myself have been pretty impressed with the tropical season so far. I had a relatively great year chasing on the plains (despite the lack of true "outbreak" days) then here comes the tropical season. To echo was Jeff said, I NEVER would have thought I'd see 2 <900mb major hurricanes in a close timeframe (as in years) much less a month! :shock:

 

[Robert Dewey]

Originally posted by Jeff Snyder+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jeff Snyder)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Andrew Khan

I mean Rita is the strongest storm in recorded history....

No it's not. It's the 3rd lowest central pressure recorded with an Atlantic hurricane.[/b]

When this next update from NHC comes in, you may need to edit that :lol:

Anyway, I have this feeling too. In fact, I had it last year as well with all the 'canes hitting FL. This year has been meteorologically (and geologically) exciting to say the least:

1. Mount St. Helens
2. Earthquakes
3. Major Tsunami
4. 36-42 inch snowstorm; in central IN of all places
5. Seasonal snowfall totals of over 100 inches this past winter at my locale
6. Number of 90 degree days at my location
7. Hurricane Katrina
8. Hurricane Rita
9. The number of hurricanes in 2005

Those are all of the major events, meteorological and geological, that occured in he past 12 months that are significant to me.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

Originally posted by Sam Sagnella
I have said the phrase \"I can't believe this is really happening\" more times in the last month than I ever have in the past.

That's about what I was thinking when I saw debris sailing through the air above my house on August 18th...and while watching the wind whip the trees back and forth through the basement windows. :shock:

 

[JP Santiago]

Originally posted by Jeff Snyder
I NEVER thought I'd see a <910mb storm in the Gulf of Mexico (ok ok, I did think I'd see it SOME day, but...). Add in a mind-boggling <899mb storm in nearly the same spot only 3-4 weeks later... :shock:

Add to that, the forecast track runs right over my neck of the woods in North Texas FOUR hours' drive from the Gulf Coast.......but my weather geek jones have been running on overdrive since Katrina. I'm in a position logistically where stormchasing is impractical right now, so all I have to settle for is armchair chasing but the quality of informative posts here has really helped provide an "education on the fly" for me.

 

[Shane Adams]

Well, as expected, the track has now been adjusted completely out of Oklahoma, meaning we're going to miss everything from Rita. Norman has established a new level of dominance against any type of interesting atmospheric activity; tornadoes and supercells are small game, OUN has now destroyed a hurricane as well. If you fear weather, move here.

 

[B Ozanne]

I'm totally in a daze. First Katrina and its aftermath. Then Ophelia taunted me with a possible hit in CT. I was just starting to get weaned off that and now Rita comes along. I've worn out the batteries in my remote twice now from flipping between all the news stations, and I think some website are starting to get burned into my computer screen from being on so much.

As for the past year I got to work on the summit of Mount Washington and repeatedly play in 100+mph winds, peaking out at 139mph.

 

[David Draun]

And I have been missing it ALL! :evil:

 

[cdcollura]

Unbeleivable,

This year for hurricane chasing has absolutely blown my mind ... My group (including Jim Edds and Jeff Gammons) and myself intercepted nearly a dozen named tropical systems since June of last year 2004. Five named storms in 2004: Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. This year of 2005 there was Arlene, Dennis, Emily, Katrina (which was TWO - one in FL the other in MS), and Rita. Jim Edds got to fly on a P3 for Ophelia, so you can count that in too.

I keep thinking about years ago, in the 80's and 90's. For example, I chased hurricane Andrew in 1992. Aside smaller tropical storms, the next HURRICANE chase wasn't until Erin in 1995. After that is was Georges in 1998 and Irene in 1999. You can see how FAR apart the chases were ... A hurricane every few years or so, becoming more frequent in the latter.

I never in my wildest dreams would I imagine chasing 4 or 5 hurricanes in one year back then - NEVER.

 

[Morgan Palmer]

I was disappointed by my spring, and was really looking forward to this hurricane season for plenty to look at, but am ready for at least a couple of weeks' break.

I've had to put off my vacation twice because of Katrina (went to Biloxi for work) and Rita (stayed right here at work), so now I can't work out a full vacation time until late October.

Even for those who aren't just along the coast, it's been a bit disruptive. But I'm sure in a couple of weeks, I'll be ready again.

 

[Sam Sagnella]

In the 5 hours prior to writing this post, I have witnessed yet another set of events that has made me go 'wow.' We have a 892mb (how low can she go?) 175mph hurricane in the nwrn Caribbean sea that is poised to enter the GoM and strike wrn FL as a major. I created this thread more than a month ago and my 'daze' has only been exacerbated by a killer Stan in the BoC, a relatively minimal TS Tammy, STD 22 (which, in part, caused over 9" of rain in just over a week here in SW Conn), the first ever tropical cyclone to make landfall in Spain, and now Wilma.

Alpha is going to be another cool event to witness, and will just be the icing on the cake on all all around PHENOMENAL (in the truest sense of the word) season.